Warm blast sets 8 records in Manitoba

A student makes her way across the sunny University of Winnipeg campus on Tuesday morning. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)

It's hard to believe it was snowing just a week ago.

Car drive along Portage Avenue in Winnipeg as the sun shines bright on Tuesday. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)

A sudden blast of warm weather has swept through Manitoba, making it feel like the middle of summer and setting eight daytime records on Monday with Swan River clocking in as the hottest at 26.9 C.

Winnipeggers basked in a temperature of 25.7 C but fell short of the record for May 6, which was 32. 1C. That was set in 1992.

Temperatures will stay high on Tuesday, with 26 C forecasted for Winnipeg.

Location

New record

Old record (year set)

Carberry

25.9 C

22.4 C (2006)

Carman

25.2 C

21.2 (2005)

Fisher Branch

26.5 C

21.8 C (2009)

Flin Flon

22.5 C

20.2 C (2003)

Grand Rapids

21.4 C

17.7 C (1996)

Roblin

24.6 C

23.5 C (2006)

Shoal Lake

23.5 C

21.9 C (2006)

Swan River

26.9 C

22.7 C (2006)

SOURCE: Environment Canada

Then the mercury is expected to take a dip after that, dropping to daytime highs of 11 C, 13 C and 7 C before rebounding to the mid-20s on the weekend.

Meanwhile, it's still winter in the province's far north. A snowfall warning is in place for Churchill, Brochet, and Tadoule Lake.

Snowfall amounts will range from 10 to 15 cm in Brochet and Tadoule Lake and up to 25 cm at Churchill.

Farmers could seed earlier

The leap into summer in southern Manitoba is great news for farmers, who could be out seeding soon.

The cold spring and slow melt had prompted predictions of a very late start to planting — possibly even June. But Dennis Lange with Manitoba Agriculture in Altona said that's all changed.

"We're not in the fields yet but it's looking very positive towards the end of the week here if the weather holds and no rainfall comes. I think growers are, you know, a little bit more excited now to get back in the fields," he said.

Parts of the province with high water levels will still likely get started later but the Altona region is in good shape, Lange said.

Cereal crops will likely go in first with canola following not far behind.

Hay shortage follows long winter

Many Manitoba farmers are struggling to get their hands on hay to feed their livestock after a long winter has kept grass from growing on their pastures.

Cam Dahl, the general manager of Manitoba Beef Producers, said some producers are looking at selling off their herds.

"If you think of producers that survived the 2011 flood, only to be forced out of business now because they simply cannot produce enough feed for their livestock – that’s a tough pill to swallow," said Dahl.

The shortage has caused the price of hay to shoot up to $150 per bail, which is three times the regular price.

Fire ban

Conditions are so dry in the Rural Municipality of Tache, southeast of Winnipeg, that officials have put a burn ban into place until mid-June.

Anyone caught starting a fire faces steep fines and could also be made to pay the fire-fighting costs. Tache Mayor Bill Danylchuk said they've already had to deal with fires this spring.

"[They were] in the eastern part of the municipality, in the wooded area, and these could very quickly get totally out of control and could burn a large area, and we don't need that," he said.